Catalog of Standards

Credit: Vaclav Volrab

One of the most useful sources of information about Smart Grid standards is the Catalog of Standards, which is produced and maintained by the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP). As described in the NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, Release 2.0 (see Sections 4.2 and 5.3), the Catalog of Standards will serve as a compendium of standards, practices, and guidelines considered relevant for the development and deployment of a robust and interoperable Smart Grid. The extensive information included for each entry in the Catalog of Standards will be a very useful resource for utilities, manufacturers, regulators, consumers, and other Smart Grid stakeholders. The SGIP is assembling this set of reference documents as a resource for the Smart Grid community.

The Catalog of Standards was established by the SGIP Governing Board in May 2011, and the first six standards to be included in the catalog were approved by the SGIP Plenary in July 2011. As of May 2013, the number of standards or standards components added to the Catalog of Standards stands at 56. It is anticipated that the catalog will eventually contain hundreds of these consensus documents.

The Catalog of Standards provides a key—but not exclusive—source of input to the NIST process for coordinating the development of a framework of protocols and model standards for an interoperable Smart Grid. (See Section 4.5 of NIST Framework 2.0 for further details on the NIST Smart Grid standards identification process.) To better understand the relationship between SGIP's "Catalog of Standards" and NIST's "Identified Standards" list, please use this link.

For a layperson's introduction to the Catalog of Standards, this brochure is a good starting point.